S: 10,000
B: 187
R: 40
T: 17.7 hrs
Back in the pool with a vengeance this week after the debacle at White Lake. Yes, it was the course's fault but does that make me happier about it? No, of course it doesn't. So that means I jump back into the glorious, crystal clear waters of the Dowd Y to bask in the chlorine goodness again for the sake of gaining those extra seconds (or minutes) in races. Is it worth it? To me, yes. To most people, probably not. Maybe that makes me a little crazy.
Managed to get in three bike rides during the week before the first unofficial official training ride of the Louisville training calendar on Saturday. I would like to say that it was epic because of the domination I served up to cowering training partners but in reality it was a bit of a struggle since I'm still recovering for the half-ironman binge I went for the past four weeks. It's tough to come down from a stint like that (and by come down I mean recover in a non-metaphorical sense) but I know that I'm getting better on a daily basis because of how the run felt Sunday.
That particular long run felt fantastic! Well, fantastic is a bit strong. I just felt really smooth and relaxed up until the point where I started to get tired. It probably helped that it was most likely one of the most gorgeous days ever for running. A bit of chilly wind in the beginning but the sun warmed everything up and put my mood on the high side of 10 using a scale of 1-10 (10 being epic-ly good and 1 being emo). As usual, John and Carrie provided excellent entertainment.
One cannot help but marvel at times like these at how much difference good training partners make. For a long time I didn't truly "enjoy" all of my long workouts but since I started training up in Davidson with the Behmes, Fletch, Kerf, Darb and Woodbury (when he decides it's worth the drive) it has made all the difference. Maybe I'm just being dramatic. Wait, I definitely am. Ohhhh well. That's what's going to fuel the Louisville domination anyway.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
White Lake Half
S: 3900
B: 97
R: 23
So thirteen days after racing in New Orleans I got my butt in gear for another attempt at a half ironman. It was an awkward in between time given that I had to recover from New Orleans and then get ready for White Lake. I don't think I've quite figured that out yet but the takeaway is that the second race was MUCH harder than the first. While my performance in terms of time was similar, White Lake felt like a much more difficult race. Everyone says the bike course is flat but it really isn't; there are a lot of false flats. New Orleans is totally flat. B2B is totally flat. White Lake is very close and up until this year I would have said people wouldn't bike much faster than 2:15, ever.
Swim: 32:08 (32nd)
The swim was definitely wetsuit legal this year at right below 70 degree water temperature. I had been hoping that it wouldn't be but the cards didn't fall that way on race day. The "open" wave was around 50 people so it was a fairly large group that was assembled before the RD said take off. Once he did, it was a fairly chaotic scramble for the first 1-200 meters. After that it mellowed out a bit. I quickly realized that the course was slightly different than last year: this time we went "out" much farther and didn't cut "across" quite as much. It was more like a triangle than a odd rectangle. Another thing I quickly noticed is that all of the buoys were orange; both the sight buoys and the turn buoys. I managed to get into a good rhythm but couldn't find anybody's feet to sit on so I just swam by myself most of the time trying to find my way to the next buoy. Once we made the final right hand turn I had to stop and breast-stroke to find where the next target was. It was difficult because the turn was beyond 90 degrees so you had to distinguish between the first leg buoys and the buoys you were currently trying to hit. I gradually made my way back into the dock. I climbed up the ladder hoping to see a time of 29:50 or thereabouts but instead the clock said 31:45. I was literally astonished. I ran down the tack to the transition mat for a time of just over 32:00. Needless to say, I was not pleased with the swim.
T1: 1:32
Bike: 2:16:23 (5th)
Once out of transition I shifted into a big gear and began the process of reeling in as many people as possible. It was slightly overcast for the first half of the ride and that was very welcome given the fact that the expected high today was 90 degrees. In the first five miles I probably passed 2-3 guys but I also lost all of my salt tablets. I tried not to worry about it but in the back of my head I remembered the severe cramps I got last year so I was definitely thinking about it. I tried to shrug it off and get into a strong, steady rhythm like I remembered having at New Orleans. I continued to pass people and continued to eat a lot of gels and drink a lot of water and didn't see anyone for quite some time. My legs were feeling pretty sluggish and my HR was much lower than in New Orleans (156 bpm avg vs 161 avg) and I felt like I was working harder. I caught Tom Clifford - last year's winner and a consistent top 3 finisher in the NCTS races with a ridiculous running ability - around mile 30 and tried to get him to work with me but he didn't seem to understand the concept or just didn't want to. We got to the little out/back and saw Justin Park in the lead and George Worrell in third but two other guys I didn't know. At that point I was behind Tom so I knew I was in sixth on the road. We finished the out/back and turned right for the last stretch before getting back to White Lake. We changed the lead a couple of times but it was never beneficial to either of us. I was a little frustrated with the whole day so with about 5-7 miles to go I put my head down and gutted it out to the finish. Coming into transition I put about a minute on Tom.
T2: 1:04
Run: 1:32:27 (14th)
I actually felt pretty good heading out onto the run despite the fact that my legs felt pretty bad the whole bike ride. Tom caught me a little after mile 1 and from there I was by myself the rest of the day. The first 3 miles or so of that route are really horrible. Right alongside a highway (and by now the sun had come out in full force) with nobody around, just aid stations to look forward to. I took a porto break at mile 4 (I haven't yet learned the art of peeing while running...) and kept it pretty steady until the turn around at mile 6.55. Once past the turnaround I actually felt even better - probably due to the fact that there is a slight downhill and I was halfway done - so I maintained my pace and didn't stop at aid stations; just grabbing two cups of water at each one. It started to get a little rough around mile 9 and then at miles 10 and 11 aid stations I had to walk and get a bunch of fluids to try and cool me down. Then it was back onto the ridiculously hot and tough highway for the last miles. I managed to pick it up a little bit and despite some twinges of cramps in the last mile I finished the run off pretty strong. I definitely think this was a better run for me and something to build on for the future.
Overall: 4:23:33 in 7th.
Full results here:
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1806
Things I learned in this race:
- I can't do two half-ironmans in two weeks and hope to be in top form for both of them. Not yet.
- I am capable of 4:18-4:19 on the right course. I think if I went and did NOLA again I could do that.
- I want to do another half-ironman this year but I probably won't.
B: 97
R: 23
So thirteen days after racing in New Orleans I got my butt in gear for another attempt at a half ironman. It was an awkward in between time given that I had to recover from New Orleans and then get ready for White Lake. I don't think I've quite figured that out yet but the takeaway is that the second race was MUCH harder than the first. While my performance in terms of time was similar, White Lake felt like a much more difficult race. Everyone says the bike course is flat but it really isn't; there are a lot of false flats. New Orleans is totally flat. B2B is totally flat. White Lake is very close and up until this year I would have said people wouldn't bike much faster than 2:15, ever.
Swim: 32:08 (32nd)
The swim was definitely wetsuit legal this year at right below 70 degree water temperature. I had been hoping that it wouldn't be but the cards didn't fall that way on race day. The "open" wave was around 50 people so it was a fairly large group that was assembled before the RD said take off. Once he did, it was a fairly chaotic scramble for the first 1-200 meters. After that it mellowed out a bit. I quickly realized that the course was slightly different than last year: this time we went "out" much farther and didn't cut "across" quite as much. It was more like a triangle than a odd rectangle. Another thing I quickly noticed is that all of the buoys were orange; both the sight buoys and the turn buoys. I managed to get into a good rhythm but couldn't find anybody's feet to sit on so I just swam by myself most of the time trying to find my way to the next buoy. Once we made the final right hand turn I had to stop and breast-stroke to find where the next target was. It was difficult because the turn was beyond 90 degrees so you had to distinguish between the first leg buoys and the buoys you were currently trying to hit. I gradually made my way back into the dock. I climbed up the ladder hoping to see a time of 29:50 or thereabouts but instead the clock said 31:45. I was literally astonished. I ran down the tack to the transition mat for a time of just over 32:00. Needless to say, I was not pleased with the swim.
T1: 1:32
Bike: 2:16:23 (5th)
Once out of transition I shifted into a big gear and began the process of reeling in as many people as possible. It was slightly overcast for the first half of the ride and that was very welcome given the fact that the expected high today was 90 degrees. In the first five miles I probably passed 2-3 guys but I also lost all of my salt tablets. I tried not to worry about it but in the back of my head I remembered the severe cramps I got last year so I was definitely thinking about it. I tried to shrug it off and get into a strong, steady rhythm like I remembered having at New Orleans. I continued to pass people and continued to eat a lot of gels and drink a lot of water and didn't see anyone for quite some time. My legs were feeling pretty sluggish and my HR was much lower than in New Orleans (156 bpm avg vs 161 avg) and I felt like I was working harder. I caught Tom Clifford - last year's winner and a consistent top 3 finisher in the NCTS races with a ridiculous running ability - around mile 30 and tried to get him to work with me but he didn't seem to understand the concept or just didn't want to. We got to the little out/back and saw Justin Park in the lead and George Worrell in third but two other guys I didn't know. At that point I was behind Tom so I knew I was in sixth on the road. We finished the out/back and turned right for the last stretch before getting back to White Lake. We changed the lead a couple of times but it was never beneficial to either of us. I was a little frustrated with the whole day so with about 5-7 miles to go I put my head down and gutted it out to the finish. Coming into transition I put about a minute on Tom.
T2: 1:04
Run: 1:32:27 (14th)
I actually felt pretty good heading out onto the run despite the fact that my legs felt pretty bad the whole bike ride. Tom caught me a little after mile 1 and from there I was by myself the rest of the day. The first 3 miles or so of that route are really horrible. Right alongside a highway (and by now the sun had come out in full force) with nobody around, just aid stations to look forward to. I took a porto break at mile 4 (I haven't yet learned the art of peeing while running...) and kept it pretty steady until the turn around at mile 6.55. Once past the turnaround I actually felt even better - probably due to the fact that there is a slight downhill and I was halfway done - so I maintained my pace and didn't stop at aid stations; just grabbing two cups of water at each one. It started to get a little rough around mile 9 and then at miles 10 and 11 aid stations I had to walk and get a bunch of fluids to try and cool me down. Then it was back onto the ridiculously hot and tough highway for the last miles. I managed to pick it up a little bit and despite some twinges of cramps in the last mile I finished the run off pretty strong. I definitely think this was a better run for me and something to build on for the future.
Overall: 4:23:33 in 7th.
Full results here:
http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_results&id=1806
Things I learned in this race:
- I can't do two half-ironmans in two weeks and hope to be in top form for both of them. Not yet.
- I am capable of 4:18-4:19 on the right course. I think if I went and did NOLA again I could do that.
- I want to do another half-ironman this year but I probably won't.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Recovery
S: 11,250
B: 122
R: 24
This week was all about just taking it easy after NOLA 70.3, which accomplished with great success. It is sort of an awkward week given that is an odd in-between sort of week (recovery week leading up to race week) and I haven't really figured out how to handle that just yet.
Next week is race week for White Lake Half. I'd love to be able to put out similar efforts at that race but I'm not really sure how I will feel. I'm hopeful that my bike will feel even stronger (that doesn't necessarily mean faster, fyi) than NOLA because I will have had two down weeks on the bike (in terms of weekly miles, I went 220, 225, NOLA race week, recovery week) leading up to the race week so it's essentially a 2 week bike taper with one very strong workout in there (the race itself). I'd also like to think I'm capable of a slightly faster swim time if everything else is equal between the two races in terms of the swim (which is asking a lot). White Lake is always very smooth so hopefully this weekend will be no different. I'd also love to be able to run sub 1:30, since I KNOW that I am capable of that run if I can pace to my potential. I averaged 6:45/mile through mile 9 of NOLA 70.3 (1:28:25 half marathon time...) so if I fuel properly and hydrate appropriately I should be able to offer up a repeat performance and hopefully hold it through 13.1!
B: 122
R: 24
This week was all about just taking it easy after NOLA 70.3, which accomplished with great success. It is sort of an awkward week given that is an odd in-between sort of week (recovery week leading up to race week) and I haven't really figured out how to handle that just yet.
Next week is race week for White Lake Half. I'd love to be able to put out similar efforts at that race but I'm not really sure how I will feel. I'm hopeful that my bike will feel even stronger (that doesn't necessarily mean faster, fyi) than NOLA because I will have had two down weeks on the bike (in terms of weekly miles, I went 220, 225, NOLA race week, recovery week) leading up to the race week so it's essentially a 2 week bike taper with one very strong workout in there (the race itself). I'd also like to think I'm capable of a slightly faster swim time if everything else is equal between the two races in terms of the swim (which is asking a lot). White Lake is always very smooth so hopefully this weekend will be no different. I'd also love to be able to run sub 1:30, since I KNOW that I am capable of that run if I can pace to my potential. I averaged 6:45/mile through mile 9 of NOLA 70.3 (1:28:25 half marathon time...) so if I fuel properly and hydrate appropriately I should be able to offer up a repeat performance and hopefully hold it through 13.1!
Monday, April 19, 2010
New Orleans 70.3 Race Report (shorter than usual!)
Going into this race I was extremely excited for several reasons.
a) the 2009 edition of this race was my first triathlon and I had a mixed experience: very excited but also a little disappointed because I expected to be a little faster (4:49); don't ask why, it might just be my inherent sense of entitlement.
b) given how much I progressed last year, I had high hopes to set a big PR considering how much I (thought I) had improved since my last half (May 09: 4:34). This would be my 3rd Half IM
c) the weather looked favorable
d) I love to race
e) there were TONS of legit hottie-thread qualifiers at the race last year so I was hoping for more of the same this year!
f) it's a trip home to the family
Swim: 30:30
As everyone who has done the race knows, the swim was a mess. Watching the pro men as I was standing around waiting it was amusing to see them dolphin dive, swim for a bit and then realize that the water was not deep. So they got up and kept running for about 30 yards before truly beginning the swim. As the day wore on, the chop noticeably increased until there were white caps within 30-50 yards of the shore due to the wind from the NE. That meant that the first and last parts of the swim were the 'worst.' I put on my wetsuit a little earlier than I would have normally because the wind was a little chilly and considering that I had been sitting still for the last hour my body wasn't doing too much heating on its own. I suppose that's a good thing as it meant I was conserving energy. That thought didn't make me feel any warmer, however. My AG wave gradually made our way to the front of the line and then the 'go' was yelled and we ran off into the slightly chilly Lake P. As soon as the swim started I realized it was going to be an interesting one; I pretty much relegated myself to sighting every single stroke and that's what I did the whole swim. I swam over some people (sorry) (but not really), drank a lot of water, and generally made my way in the right direction towards the finish. Having seen how badly some people got off course in the last 2-300 meters I made sure to sight as much as possible to make sure I didn't err in my directions. Dolphin dived the last 15 meters and ran up the beach feeling pretty good about that swim. It's a 3+ minute PR at that race on a much tougher day (although many would argue that last year's swim was long).
T1: 1:55
Nothing to report. MUCH faster and more efficient transitions than last year. Literally 100x better. I guess that's something to report
Bike: 2:15:57
I knew I was in good bike shape leading up to this race but I remembered the course last year being especially difficult due to the wind. So I had essentially resigned myself to a pretty miserable 56 miles in which I took the first 10-15 pretty easy and then tried to save the hammerfest for the last 20 miles when everyone else would be slowing. For the most part, that's what I did. Given that I was in the second to last wave, there was a LONG, REALLY LONG, line of people in front of me. Unfortunately, for rather obvious reasons, I could not 'slipstream' very much. I had almost counted on that in my pre-race visualizations. Fortunately for me, it didn't seem to matter. For the most part, this course is pretty boring. The only "interesting" part is when you get on the road where the 2nd (of 3) turnaround is; that's typical rural Louisiana (as I understand it). Rural may not really be the right word, but the feel of that area is something I always find pretty funny. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm just an elitist city-bred New Orleanian. Oh wait, I am.
The bike continued on rather uneventfully until I finally encountered someone in my AG right before the annoying little out and back on the frontage road. I assumed he was in my AG based on his number but like a total d*** he wasn't body marked. What annoyed me even more was that he seemed to be sitting rather close behind me each time we turned around. I got a little annoyed at that so when we got back onto the main road I put the hammer down. At one point there were cars in the left land (racers in the right lane) and I was going as fast as they were. My inner bike computer told me that I was going between 29-31 mph (I did not race with anything other than a HR monitor...) and I actually ended up holding that effort level almost the rest of the way in. Needless to say, I was very satisfied with that bike split.
On a side note, my only complaint with the bike course would have been fixing the km splits. It seemed like they were WAY off. Maybe I'm wrong.
T2: 1:12
Uneventful
Run: 1:32:17
The run was very warm. About 75-80% of it was unshaded. Luckily it wasn't as humid as last year but that was small consolation at the time. My run started off going well but miles 6-7 I was paying for a fast bike split. The guy in my AG that I passed on the bike re-payed the favor at about mile 8-9 of the run and that's when my elastic really did break. I tried (and failed totally) to stick to his pace. It was a valiant effort. Not really. The run down Esplanade was a struggle and the turn onto Decatur was a nice thing to look forward to and FINALLY experience. Crossed the finish line and was extremely pleased with my effort level and performance.
Total: 4:21:51
a) the 2009 edition of this race was my first triathlon and I had a mixed experience: very excited but also a little disappointed because I expected to be a little faster (4:49); don't ask why, it might just be my inherent sense of entitlement.
b) given how much I progressed last year, I had high hopes to set a big PR considering how much I (thought I) had improved since my last half (May 09: 4:34). This would be my 3rd Half IM
c) the weather looked favorable
d) I love to race
e) there were TONS of legit hottie-thread qualifiers at the race last year so I was hoping for more of the same this year!
f) it's a trip home to the family
Swim: 30:30
As everyone who has done the race knows, the swim was a mess. Watching the pro men as I was standing around waiting it was amusing to see them dolphin dive, swim for a bit and then realize that the water was not deep. So they got up and kept running for about 30 yards before truly beginning the swim. As the day wore on, the chop noticeably increased until there were white caps within 30-50 yards of the shore due to the wind from the NE. That meant that the first and last parts of the swim were the 'worst.' I put on my wetsuit a little earlier than I would have normally because the wind was a little chilly and considering that I had been sitting still for the last hour my body wasn't doing too much heating on its own. I suppose that's a good thing as it meant I was conserving energy. That thought didn't make me feel any warmer, however. My AG wave gradually made our way to the front of the line and then the 'go' was yelled and we ran off into the slightly chilly Lake P. As soon as the swim started I realized it was going to be an interesting one; I pretty much relegated myself to sighting every single stroke and that's what I did the whole swim. I swam over some people (sorry) (but not really), drank a lot of water, and generally made my way in the right direction towards the finish. Having seen how badly some people got off course in the last 2-300 meters I made sure to sight as much as possible to make sure I didn't err in my directions. Dolphin dived the last 15 meters and ran up the beach feeling pretty good about that swim. It's a 3+ minute PR at that race on a much tougher day (although many would argue that last year's swim was long).
T1: 1:55
Nothing to report. MUCH faster and more efficient transitions than last year. Literally 100x better. I guess that's something to report
Bike: 2:15:57
I knew I was in good bike shape leading up to this race but I remembered the course last year being especially difficult due to the wind. So I had essentially resigned myself to a pretty miserable 56 miles in which I took the first 10-15 pretty easy and then tried to save the hammerfest for the last 20 miles when everyone else would be slowing. For the most part, that's what I did. Given that I was in the second to last wave, there was a LONG, REALLY LONG, line of people in front of me. Unfortunately, for rather obvious reasons, I could not 'slipstream' very much. I had almost counted on that in my pre-race visualizations. Fortunately for me, it didn't seem to matter. For the most part, this course is pretty boring. The only "interesting" part is when you get on the road where the 2nd (of 3) turnaround is; that's typical rural Louisiana (as I understand it). Rural may not really be the right word, but the feel of that area is something I always find pretty funny. Don't ask me why. Maybe I'm just an elitist city-bred New Orleanian. Oh wait, I am.
The bike continued on rather uneventfully until I finally encountered someone in my AG right before the annoying little out and back on the frontage road. I assumed he was in my AG based on his number but like a total d*** he wasn't body marked. What annoyed me even more was that he seemed to be sitting rather close behind me each time we turned around. I got a little annoyed at that so when we got back onto the main road I put the hammer down. At one point there were cars in the left land (racers in the right lane) and I was going as fast as they were. My inner bike computer told me that I was going between 29-31 mph (I did not race with anything other than a HR monitor...) and I actually ended up holding that effort level almost the rest of the way in. Needless to say, I was very satisfied with that bike split.
On a side note, my only complaint with the bike course would have been fixing the km splits. It seemed like they were WAY off. Maybe I'm wrong.
T2: 1:12
Uneventful
Run: 1:32:17
The run was very warm. About 75-80% of it was unshaded. Luckily it wasn't as humid as last year but that was small consolation at the time. My run started off going well but miles 6-7 I was paying for a fast bike split. The guy in my AG that I passed on the bike re-payed the favor at about mile 8-9 of the run and that's when my elastic really did break. I tried (and failed totally) to stick to his pace. It was a valiant effort. Not really. The run down Esplanade was a struggle and the turn onto Decatur was a nice thing to look forward to and FINALLY experience. Crossed the finish line and was extremely pleased with my effort level and performance.
Total: 4:21:51
Monday, April 12, 2010
A year ago...
S: 6700
B: 226
R: 29
T: 17 hrs
A year ago I had just competed in my first triathlon. On the first weekend in April of 2009 I successfully finished and "raced" New Orleans 70.3 and was completely and utterly exhausted. I remember using words like "how do people do 2 of those in a ROW??" and "oh my god that's the hardest thing I've ever done!" While they were both true and accurate representations of my feelings at the time, much has changed in the past year. Just how much will be seen next Sunday.
Didn't get in much swimming but managed to fit in a good open water swim with Kevin down in Lake Wylie on Wednesday. I was very happy to swim once in the lake before the race on Sunday as it helps you remember things you might have forgotten otherwise. Like, make sure to put on body glide at key rub areas (neck!) otherwise you will get a massive wetsuit hickey on race-day.
Lots of good bike miles this week as well, with 220+ miles coming in 4 rides (one of which was only an 18 mile spin class), which meant my average ride was right around the half-ironman distance. On Sunday we had a very good ride up in a windy Davidson area in which we rotated 10 minute pulls and averaged 22 mph over the course of the 80 mile ride. Very solid.
Running was uneventful this week as I didn't do very much of it. I do feel like I've actually recovered from the marathon at this point so that is nice. Good timing.
Needless to say, I'm extremely excited to race this Sunday! I'm not gonna post my goals, but I AM hoping to PR.
To quote Ricky Bobby: "I just wanna go fast."
B: 226
R: 29
T: 17 hrs
A year ago I had just competed in my first triathlon. On the first weekend in April of 2009 I successfully finished and "raced" New Orleans 70.3 and was completely and utterly exhausted. I remember using words like "how do people do 2 of those in a ROW??" and "oh my god that's the hardest thing I've ever done!" While they were both true and accurate representations of my feelings at the time, much has changed in the past year. Just how much will be seen next Sunday.
Didn't get in much swimming but managed to fit in a good open water swim with Kevin down in Lake Wylie on Wednesday. I was very happy to swim once in the lake before the race on Sunday as it helps you remember things you might have forgotten otherwise. Like, make sure to put on body glide at key rub areas (neck!) otherwise you will get a massive wetsuit hickey on race-day.
Lots of good bike miles this week as well, with 220+ miles coming in 4 rides (one of which was only an 18 mile spin class), which meant my average ride was right around the half-ironman distance. On Sunday we had a very good ride up in a windy Davidson area in which we rotated 10 minute pulls and averaged 22 mph over the course of the 80 mile ride. Very solid.
Running was uneventful this week as I didn't do very much of it. I do feel like I've actually recovered from the marathon at this point so that is nice. Good timing.
Needless to say, I'm extremely excited to race this Sunday! I'm not gonna post my goals, but I AM hoping to PR.
To quote Ricky Bobby: "I just wanna go fast."
Monday, April 5, 2010
Hot weather, NICE!
S: 9000
B: 220
R: 39
Total: 18.8 hours
Not a lot of intensity in the pool this week; just a swim "test" on Monday that showed me I'm a lot faster than I was at this time last year - or have ever been before - but that I'm still a lot slower than "real" swimmers. I'm going to just maintain my swimming levels until the latter part of Ironman training I think as I'm sure I'll be 1-2 minutes faster in my halfs with the current ability level I have.
Lots of good biking this week culminating in an awesome long ride/workout on Saturday. I wanted to get in at least an hour of steady/moderate work so we went easy for an hour (when I say easy I just mean low intensity...I rarely ever go truly "easy" on the bike...) then one hour where I sat on the front at 150-155 bpm (I'll try to hold 160ish in a half-ironman) and then the rest easy/steady also on the front (I was actually on the front the whole ride, so lots of good work). During that 1 hour we averaged a hair over 24 mph on rolling terrain, which was awesome. I think at this point I can count on a 2:20-2:23 bike ride in a half. That test will come in 2 weeks though.
My running this week was all easy...no workouts at all. My running legs are still feeling a bit tired from the marathon so I'm just going to go easy/steady and not try to force my legs into anything they don't wanna do.
Next week will be very similar (goals are 50 run, 250 bike, 10k swim) with no intensity. Then it's race week!!
B: 220
R: 39
Total: 18.8 hours
Not a lot of intensity in the pool this week; just a swim "test" on Monday that showed me I'm a lot faster than I was at this time last year - or have ever been before - but that I'm still a lot slower than "real" swimmers. I'm going to just maintain my swimming levels until the latter part of Ironman training I think as I'm sure I'll be 1-2 minutes faster in my halfs with the current ability level I have.
Lots of good biking this week culminating in an awesome long ride/workout on Saturday. I wanted to get in at least an hour of steady/moderate work so we went easy for an hour (when I say easy I just mean low intensity...I rarely ever go truly "easy" on the bike...) then one hour where I sat on the front at 150-155 bpm (I'll try to hold 160ish in a half-ironman) and then the rest easy/steady also on the front (I was actually on the front the whole ride, so lots of good work). During that 1 hour we averaged a hair over 24 mph on rolling terrain, which was awesome. I think at this point I can count on a 2:20-2:23 bike ride in a half. That test will come in 2 weeks though.
My running this week was all easy...no workouts at all. My running legs are still feeling a bit tired from the marathon so I'm just going to go easy/steady and not try to force my legs into anything they don't wanna do.
Next week will be very similar (goals are 50 run, 250 bike, 10k swim) with no intensity. Then it's race week!!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A little recovery and a little sprinting
S: 11450
B: 161
R: 14
T: 14
I surprised myself a little bit this week when I actually started to get excited about getting in the pool. It's been awhile since I've had that feeling so it's nice to get it when I have my first two big races of the year in the next 3-4 weeks and since I've had the feeling before (and went overboard taking advantage of it...) I know what NOT to do. What I WILL do is do mostly base/easy swims with 1 or 2 real workouts per week.
I would have biked more this week but the weather and the fact that I was recovering from the marathon slowed that down a little bit. I did have a very good ride on Saturday of 3.5 hours where I got in a lot of work on the front on a very windy day. I also forgot water bottles so my entire fluid system was 20oz of mountain dew at mile 50! It's nice to know that I can rock the Dew whenever I want to. I also had the 20k effort in the race on Sunday that was definitely affected by the ride the day before. Regardless, I wouldn't have changed that because I can't "waste" a training weekend with NOLA 70.3 only 3 weeks away by just getting in a short ride.
Running was obviously limited this week; my first run after the marathon was on Friday and it definitely didn't feel great - I could tell my quads were still a little sore - but after that I felt MUCH better on Saturday and in the run portion of the race on Sunday. Next week I'm going to throw in some workouts and get back up to my normal volume and see where it takes me.
Race Report: Cool Breeze Sprint Tri (250 yd pool swim, 12.4 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)
Swim: 3:21 (14th)
It was a little weird swimming with the tri top; I could definitely tell it slowed me down but I didn't want to wear a speedsuit for a 250 yard swim as I didn't think the time gained during the swim would negate having to take the time to remove it in transition (turns out I was wrong...). Swim was pretty unremarkable. I was out of the water in 3:10ish so my actual swimming pace was closer to 1:16/100 yds than 1:21.
T1: 1:05
This transition killed me. Literally. To find a slower T1 time than mine you have to go down to 13th place overall. The average T1 time of the top 10 was around 40 seconds. I had trouble getting my shoes on, getting my helmet on and zipping up my short sleeve jersey (it was really cold and windy). This plus my T2 probably kept me from winning or at least being close to the win. Oh well.
Bike: 31:31 (1st)
I didn't feel particularly good on this bike ride; my legs weren't all that fresh but I had no reason to be annoyed by that because I brought it on myself with the ride the day before. I had Donny in my sights almost the whole ride but I could never bridge the gap between us. I felt like I had zero power on all the hills so I was really pleasantly surprised to see that I had the fastest bike split. Not by much (3 seconds) but every second counts in a race this short.
T2: 0:54
Had trouble getting my running shoes on this time. Didn't lose quite as much time on this one but was still around 10 seconds behind the average of the top 5.
Run: 17:27 (2nd)
I felt pretty good right at the start; the first mile is a gradual uphill to mile 1, which I hit in roughly 5:40, followed by a flat section with a slight downhill then climb before the turnaround and mile 2. I went through that mile in just over 5:40 so I managed to hold my pace pretty well. The last mile was all downhill. I could see Donny and Mason the whole time but like on the bike I just couldn't quite close the gap. I definitely felt like I could have held this pace for a good while longer but I couldn't go any faster. That being said, I was very pleased with this run time and it seemed that it was the correct distance (unlike last year, but that was a totally different course).
Total time: 54:17
just for fun without transitions the top 5 places were:
1) 52:19, 2) 52:43, 3) 52:45, 4) 52:18-me, 5) 54:24
so I was technically the fastest 'on the course' but that literally matters nada). Oh well.
It was a fun day out there with Donny and Carrie and a good day for Triple Threat as well.
The next two weeks will be pretty big (12000, 200, 50) so hopefully I survive those and get stronger for New Orleans, which is 3 weeks from today!!
B: 161
R: 14
T: 14
I surprised myself a little bit this week when I actually started to get excited about getting in the pool. It's been awhile since I've had that feeling so it's nice to get it when I have my first two big races of the year in the next 3-4 weeks and since I've had the feeling before (and went overboard taking advantage of it...) I know what NOT to do. What I WILL do is do mostly base/easy swims with 1 or 2 real workouts per week.
I would have biked more this week but the weather and the fact that I was recovering from the marathon slowed that down a little bit. I did have a very good ride on Saturday of 3.5 hours where I got in a lot of work on the front on a very windy day. I also forgot water bottles so my entire fluid system was 20oz of mountain dew at mile 50! It's nice to know that I can rock the Dew whenever I want to. I also had the 20k effort in the race on Sunday that was definitely affected by the ride the day before. Regardless, I wouldn't have changed that because I can't "waste" a training weekend with NOLA 70.3 only 3 weeks away by just getting in a short ride.
Running was obviously limited this week; my first run after the marathon was on Friday and it definitely didn't feel great - I could tell my quads were still a little sore - but after that I felt MUCH better on Saturday and in the run portion of the race on Sunday. Next week I'm going to throw in some workouts and get back up to my normal volume and see where it takes me.
Race Report: Cool Breeze Sprint Tri (250 yd pool swim, 12.4 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)
Swim: 3:21 (14th)
It was a little weird swimming with the tri top; I could definitely tell it slowed me down but I didn't want to wear a speedsuit for a 250 yard swim as I didn't think the time gained during the swim would negate having to take the time to remove it in transition (turns out I was wrong...). Swim was pretty unremarkable. I was out of the water in 3:10ish so my actual swimming pace was closer to 1:16/100 yds than 1:21.
T1: 1:05
This transition killed me. Literally. To find a slower T1 time than mine you have to go down to 13th place overall. The average T1 time of the top 10 was around 40 seconds. I had trouble getting my shoes on, getting my helmet on and zipping up my short sleeve jersey (it was really cold and windy). This plus my T2 probably kept me from winning or at least being close to the win. Oh well.
Bike: 31:31 (1st)
I didn't feel particularly good on this bike ride; my legs weren't all that fresh but I had no reason to be annoyed by that because I brought it on myself with the ride the day before. I had Donny in my sights almost the whole ride but I could never bridge the gap between us. I felt like I had zero power on all the hills so I was really pleasantly surprised to see that I had the fastest bike split. Not by much (3 seconds) but every second counts in a race this short.
T2: 0:54
Had trouble getting my running shoes on this time. Didn't lose quite as much time on this one but was still around 10 seconds behind the average of the top 5.
Run: 17:27 (2nd)
I felt pretty good right at the start; the first mile is a gradual uphill to mile 1, which I hit in roughly 5:40, followed by a flat section with a slight downhill then climb before the turnaround and mile 2. I went through that mile in just over 5:40 so I managed to hold my pace pretty well. The last mile was all downhill. I could see Donny and Mason the whole time but like on the bike I just couldn't quite close the gap. I definitely felt like I could have held this pace for a good while longer but I couldn't go any faster. That being said, I was very pleased with this run time and it seemed that it was the correct distance (unlike last year, but that was a totally different course).
Total time: 54:17
just for fun without transitions the top 5 places were:
1) 52:19, 2) 52:43, 3) 52:45, 4) 52:18-me, 5) 54:24
so I was technically the fastest 'on the course' but that literally matters nada). Oh well.
It was a fun day out there with Donny and Carrie and a good day for Triple Threat as well.
The next two weeks will be pretty big (12000, 200, 50) so hopefully I survive those and get stronger for New Orleans, which is 3 weeks from today!!
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